I had very little to do with this piece. Well, there's a good chance I made the bead: we both make pixies. I think I probably made the first one, but I'm certain Page was the person who decided this type of bead was just the bees’ knees, as she recognized its potential to co-ordinate with pearls immediately.

pearls, silver, beadalon, crystal, accented with hollow lampwork. Page Brunner and Sylvus Tarn, completed Jan 07. All rights reserved.

I tend to work hotter than she does, so I burnt a lot of these babies before I learned how to make them properly. Though initially unimpressed, I've slowly come to appreciate this bead. It looks stupidly simple to make, but since it's taken me about a decade or so to get it right, and they still often come out wonky-shaped, there's a bit more than meets the eye. As with anything else involving warm glass, it's all about controlling the heat base. (In other words, you have to let a hollow bead cool enough that rolling it in pixie dust won't distort the shape, but not so long the coating won't stick. I admit to helping things along by carefully fluffing the pixie dust with a mandrel beforehand, and briefly reheating the pixie-rolled bead afterwards.)

photo/file created 11jan07

Unless otherwise noted, text, image and objects depicted therein copyright 1996--present sylvus tarn.